People wait to buy gasoline during a nor'easter snowstorm on Wednesday in Brooklyn. / Mario Tama, Getty Images

by Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

by Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

NEW YORK -- New York City and Long Island officials ordered a gas rationing system Thursday to ease long refueling lines and hoarding since Superstorm Sandy devastated the region last week.

Starting Friday morning, vehicles with license plates that end in an even number or zero may buy gas only on even-numbered days. Drivers whose vehicles have license plates that end in an odd number may refuel only on odd-numbered days -- which means they can gas up on Friday.

Vehicles with license plates that end in a letter or other character may buy gas only on odd-numbered days. Commercial and emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, paratransit vehicles, city taxis and vehicles with medical doctor license plates are exempt from the restrictions.

The system, in effect until further notice, is similar to a plan New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used successfully to ease similar waits at gas stations in the northern part of his state.

Estimating that just 25% of the city's filling stations are open, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the rationing "the best way to cut down the lines and help customers buy gas faster."

"Last week's storm hit the fuel network hard -- and knocked out critical infrastructure needed to distribute gasoline," he said. "Gasoline supply remains a real problem for thousands of New York drivers."

Seven petroleum terminals in New Jersey and New York remained shut or only recently reopened after Sandy, the U.S. Department of Energy reported Thursday.

The rationing system will take effect in Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as the city's five boroughs. It was announced after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was working to ensure that local officials acted together on gas plans.

"I'm not going to allow any one of them to do something that compromises a neighbor, because we're all neighbors," he said.

"When you don't have long lines, people don't panic. When people don't panic, they don't increase their purchasing," said Cuomo, referring to hoarding since Sandy.

Cuomo cited economic reports that suggested damages from Sandy could cost the region $50 billion. "That is a staggering number, especially with the financial situation we've been in," Cuomo said, referring to recent state budget deficits.

EQECAT, a risk consulting firm, said in a Nov. 1 report that total insured losses could reach $20 billion and economic losses could total as much as $50 billion. That could make Sandy the nation's second-costliest storm, behind only the $108 billion in damages from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.

The nor'easter that hit the New York region Wednesday caused renewed power outages, mass transit delays and other problems. But it did not inflict costly new structural damages, New York state operations chief Howard Glaser said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Cuomo intensified his criticism of Long Island Power Authority for continuing delays in restoring electricity to thousands of customers. "I believe they were unprepared," he said.